Homemade Hummus

In the spirit of Whatever Is In the Kitchen, I'm returning with a recipe I had to make my own. In the grocery store the other day, a 12 oz carton of hummus was $6.50 and I said to myself, "I can make it cheaper." So I bought a red bell pepper for a buck and a can of garbanzo beans for just a little more than a buck and went home equipped for my delightful dip.

Or so I thought.

You see, I've never made hummus, so I didn't know that there was a very special ingredient: tahini. Unfortunately, even if I had known, it wouldn't have been available to me here in the hinterlands, so I offer you my lovely, better-than-storebought, tahini-free hummus.

How Simple is Too Simple?

I think it’s time to tell my story. It’s about 50% of the reason why I do what I do here.

Back in 2010, I dated a guy whose idea of dinner was popping open a can of spaghetti, pouring it into a bowl, cutting up a hotdog over the top and microwaving until hot.

My response: “Ew.”

Roasted Red Peppers

It's handy to know how to roast chiles and peppers for all kinds of recipes that I make. And since roasted red bell peppers are serious yumminess, here's a quick step by step guide.

Leftover Pizza Mashup

So here’s what was in the fridge tonight:

Ingredients:

• Leftover green chile cheese breadsticks from the pizza place
• Leftover chicken breast from dinner earlier in the week
• Leftover cheese, tomato and onion from tacos earlier in the week.

Ginger Mango Chicken

One night I was scouring the bottom of my resources for something to cook. I had four pieces of frozen chicken in the freezer, a bottle of Mike’s Hard Lemonade in the fridge, and a mango on the counter. From that, I created a super easy and super delicious five-ingredient crock pot recipe.

Poor Girl's White Russian

If you’re like me, you don’t spring for heavy cream. So my white russian just uses whole milk instead:

Down and Dirty Tuna Salad

OK, let me start by admitting there is nothing “down and dirty” about this tuna salad–it’s just so quick, I can make it on the fly. Like so much of my cooking, it changes depending on what I have on hand. Right now, that isn’t much!